Guadalupe Montessori School Online - Silver City, New Mexico
 
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About the GMS Teaching Staff and Programs

The Elementary Program

Younger Elementary
6-9 Years Old
Teacher: Ellen Gore

Our younger elementary guide, Ellen Gore, holds an AMI primary diploma, and is in the process of earning her elementary diploma. She has 11 years experience in the Montessori classroom, and nearly 20 years experience working with primary and elementary age children. She never thought she would be a teacher, because she found regular school dreary and oppressive; but she fell in love with the way Montessori education lets the inner life of the child lead the way.

Older Elementary
9-12 Years Old
Teacher: Bob Anderson

Bob Anderson is the senior member of our staff. He became interested in teaching at the school when his daughter attended several years ago. He holds an undergraduate degree in biology, a M.A. in Elementary Education, and is also A.M.I. Elementary trained. His interests include guitar, music, science, mathematics, etc. With such a broad background, kids in the Older Elementary classroom always have a valuable resource.

The Philosophy

Montessori education is based on the belief that each person carries a love of learning within himself or herself, which, given the proper environment, becomes a motivating force to explore the world. A child who has been encouraged to explore and allowed to self-direct from an early age will carry throughout life the tendency to be an active, creative, and broadly focused learner.

The Montessori Elementary classroom continues the experience of individualized learning the children benefit from in the primary years. Respect for each child, for the process of exploration, and for the classroom community is paramount. Social development blossoms with the three-year age span, as the spirit of cooperation inherent in the life of the group encourages children to create friendships that have greater depth.

The foundations of self-direction and innovation laid in the primary program will serve the older child well. Children who enter the program without the primary experience will receive special attention in order to encourage the development of the self-motivated learner within.

The Curriculum

The children are divided by age into the Younger Elementary (6-9 years) and the Older Elementary (9-12 years) classrooms. While there are some age-appropriate differences in the curriculum in each class, they both follow the same general format and approach.

The child of 6 years and older moves into a period of greater abstraction and active imagination. Having figured out as a young child how the "basics" of living work, elementary children long to expand their horizons. Through the Great Lessons, stories of the earth and humanity, through exploration of more abstract didactic materials and through direct experience of the world via field study, the elementary program will call to the child to an inquisitive search for information about the world. The Montessori approach accentuates the opportunity for deeper study into the interdependency of life.

The Great Lessons include stories, which, in the telling, encourage the children to think beyond and wonder. "The Story of the Universe" tells of the ancient roots of the cosmos. "The Coming of Life" traces the history of life on earth from one-celled animals and plants to complex human beings. "The Story of Communication in Signs" and "The Story of Numbers" reveal the human inventions of written language and enumeration as civilization becomes more complex. These stories are a springboard from which children can launch individual interest and study.

Throughout this study, the child is gaining in literacy skills. These, and mathematics, including arithmetic, algebraic concepts and geometry, will be built upon through work with specialized material. The Montessori materials are designed to be progressive, leading the child through continually advancing skill levels. The teacher gives lessons to groups and to individuals who become ready for that level of work, regardless of chronological age. Thus the student can proceed at his or her own pace and work up to his or her own skill level.

Art and music are an integral part of the curriculum, through hands on exploration, professional guests invited to the classroom, and visits to museums and concerts. The children also explore the Spanish language. Physical education is an important part of the student's development. Along with the free movement allowed in the classroom and the outdoor extension, daily opportunity for greater physical expression is available.

The classroom hums with the delighted expectancy of exploration. Children at this age work individually as well as in groups, across and within the multiple age spans. The classrooms are beautiful spaces, orderly and full of unique cultural and natural items. Furnishings are elementary age sized, and the children, rather than the adults, are the focal point of the activity.

Going out

The children make forays into both the cultural and the natural world on day and overnight trips. These trips will most often evolve out of an individual or small group's interest in a particular subject: the children's interest in Monet may take them to an art museum, a child interested in computers may coordinate a trip to the University computer department or a computer store. A student with particular interest in birds may organize a bird-watching expedition. We are fortunate to have the cultural and natural resources near at hand.

The classroom emphasis on respect for the individual and the life of the group is augmented by community service. Projects such as clean-up in the downtown area, visits to nursing homes, or coordinating a food drive stimulates the 6-12 year old's interest in life in the greater community.

Evaluation

Evaluation of a student's progress is partially inherent in the materials: successful completion of a task depends on the child "getting" the concept and applying it. This is a self-test which helps the child learn what he or she needs in order to continue. Evaluation will also be made by student/teacher conference, by written teacher evaluation given to the parents in conference, and by standardized testing.